Crimson Picked Fourth; Alex Biega Named Preseason All-ECAC

Sep 28, 2009

CAMBRIDGE,
Mass.-The Harvard men's hockey team was
picked to finish fourth in ECAC Hockey by the league's coaches and
media and senior defenseman Alex Biega has been named to the
coaches' and media's preseason all-league teams, the league
announced Monday on its preseason media conference call.

The Crimson, coming off a fifth-place league finish in 2008-09,
received a first-place vote in the ECAC Hockey Writers and
Broadcasters Association Preseason Poll. The top half of each poll
was identical. Defending champion Yale was picked first, followed
by Cornell, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth and Union. Yale earned
seven first-place votes in the coaches' poll and 15 in the media
poll. Cornell received three first-place votes from the coaches and
seven from the media, while Princeton got two from each.

"We're very excited about the season," Ted Donato, the
Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach of Harvard Men's Ice
Hockey told reporters. "We have a very talented group of young
players that we're adding to a solid group of veterans. There's a
lot to be excited about."

The coaches and media agreed on the finish of only one team in
the bottom half of their preseason polls. The coaches selected
Colgate seventh. Quinnipiac and Rensselaer were tied for eighth,
followed by St. Lawrence, Clarkson and Brown in the final three
positions. In the media poll, St. Lawrence was seventh, Clarkson
eighth, Colgate ninth, Rensselaer 10th, Quinnipiac 11th and Brown
12th.

Biega, a two-time selection to the All-ECAC Hockey third team,
received his fourth and fifth preseason all-conference honors. It
was his third straight selection to the media's all-league squad
and his second straight to the coaches' team. He led Harvard with
16 assists last season and placed second on the squad with 20
points. Biega was also a key part of ECAC Hockey's top power play
in league games (19.2 percent).

The Crimson captain was one of four players named preseason
all-league by both the ECAC coaches and media. Princeton goaltender
Zane Kalemba, Colgate forward David McIntyre and Cornell forward
Riley Nash were picked to both teams. Dartmouth's Evan Stephens was
the other defenseman on the coaches' team, while Cornell's Brendon
Nash made the media's squad. The coaches chose Yale forward Sean
Backman to their preseason team, while the media selected his
teammate, Mark Arcobello.